Cumming, Ga., businessman Jorge A. Castellanos was sentenced Tuesday to four years and nine months in prison for filing false federal Individual Income Tax Returns for 2006 and 2007.

According to U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates, the charges and other information presented in court, Castellanos put together a scheme where he duped his two partners and the company’s investors, and failed to report on his 2006 and 2007 personal income tax returns more than $1.3 million in investment funds he stole.

In 2004, Castellanos and his partners formed an investment business, named GC Trading LLC, which touted itself as pre-selling overstock golf equipment and providing a return of the profits to its investors. Castellanos modeled GCT LLC after another totally separate business with a very similar name that he solely owned and operated: GC Trading Inc.

Castellanos did not operate GCT LLC legitimately. Instead of purchasing golf equipment from vendors with GCT LLC’s investors’ funds, Castellanos diverted most of the money to his GCT INC bank account, and used the money to pay his own business and personal expenses.

Castellanos then tried to hide this stolen income from the Internal Revenue Service by telling his accountants the stolen income was from loans. One accountant relied on this false information and unknowingly prepared and filed false income tax returns for tax years 2006 and 2007 on Castellanos’ behalf.

The false returns resulted in a tax loss of $1,357,562.

Castellanos was convicted of the charges on Sept. 19, after his guilty plea to filing false tax returns.